How to Make Paper Beads (for Earrings)

This YouTube video is an excellent "how to" regarding making paper beads. But wait, there is more information below!

The instructables website gives written directions on paper bead making. This source says to use archival paste for making the beads, which sent me on another search of how to make archival paste. I found a good source here at handboundbook paste. So I gave making the paste a try, cutting down the ingredients to 1 Tbsp. of wheat flour sprinkled atop 1/3 cup of water, whisked it together until the lumps were gone, and then cooked it for about 10 minutes until it had a glue-like consistency.

But you know what? This glue was not as good as Elmer's white glue which has been around for generations, and was what I ended up using instead of the flaky archival wheat glue. So much for that little experiment in making glue. I'm sticking with Elmer's.

Another website for making paper jewelry can be found here at Craftside.

And just in case you need to make a wrapped loop for holding the paper bead, michondesign.com will give you a quick tutorial on using wire or a T-pin for a wrapped loop.

Altered Paper Jewelry: Artful Adornments from Beautiful Papers (Paperback) by Jenn Mason (Author) is a book on my wish list. She has lots of good ideas in that little gem of a book. So check it out if you want to go further into paper embellishments.

Here are a couple of pictures of some of the beads I made, both with archival glue from the directions given at handboundbook paste, and with using Elmer's white glue. The more uniform colored green beads were rolled from patterned wrapping paper, and the rest were made from colored magazine photos.

The last step in the finishing process will be to cut the beads at both ends to make consistent sizes for each pair of beads, and then spray them with an acrylic finishing spray. Tomorrow's post will show pictures of the finished beads made into earrings, complete with glass beading.